Health dept. plans to hire more dog catchers

6:16 PM,
Apr. 1, 2013

A dog at the Metro animal control facility.

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The Nashville health department plans to hire more animal control officers, but Mayor Karl Dean wants the agency to try harder to find homes for the dogs they bring in.

"I guess I should give a pitch for animal adoption," Dean said. "We adopted one and it worked out pretty good."

Nashville euthanized 78 percent of the 10,290 animals that wound up in the city shelter during its last budget year - including 25 percent of the dogs deemed suitable for adoption. More dogs are likely to end up at the shelter because of a new state law that allows animal control officers to more liberally use tranquilizer ...